ATL defeats sluggish Toronto in MLR season opener

Rugby ATL took the spoils in the opening match of the 2023 Major League Rugby season. While the final score read 17-10 in the home side, the Toronto Arrows never looked like winning and scored all of their points in the final moments as their hosts tightened their grip on the Fire & Ice Cup.

The first try of the new season went to Alex Maughan. It came after a period of forward dominance that saw the ATL scrum earn a penalty to win field position. Maughan went low and hard from the back of a ruck and Kurt Coleman added the extras.

A penalty attempt from Coleman rang off the upright soon after. Nic Benn then came in off his wing to lay a big hit on Rewita Biddle, but he took the worst of the collision and was helped off with a shoulder injury. Just a minute later slick hands put Austin White into the corner for ATL’s second try.

Tiaan Erasmus found himself in trouble with the referee for backchat and was sent to the bin to reconsider his vocabulary. The Arrows pack were fired up as they won a scrum, but just as quickly their set piece faltered again and there would be no further scoring before the half.

Once back at full strength ATL again took control, though points eluded them until Biddle scored a superb debut try after the hour mark. The inside center cut back sharply on first phase from a lineout and the Arrows cover defense was too slow to react as the New Zealander raced clear to the corner.

With time winding down a Shane O’Leary kick into space bounced up for Ciaran Breen, and he fed a trailing Mitch Richardson to ground the ball. Malcolm slotted the conversion and then added a penalty on full-time to somehow salvage a losing bonus-point for the visitors.

Toronto will have some extra time to regroup before another tough road match against the defending champions New York next Sunday. It’s a conventional turnaround for ATL, who make the long trip to Starfire Stadium to take on last year’s finalists Seattle.

 

SCORING

ATL 17
Tries (3) – A. Maughan (13′), A. White (23′), R. Biddle (65′)
Cons (1) – K. Coleman 1/2 (14′), D. van Schalkwyk 0/1
Pens (0) – K. Coleman 0/1
YC (1) – T. Erasmus (34′)

TORONTO 10
Tries (1) – M. Richardson (76′)
Cons (1) – S. Malcolm 1/1 (77′)
Pens (1) – S. Malcolm 1/1 (80’+1′)

 

TEAMS

RUGBY ATL
1 Alex Maughan (17 Jonas Petrakopoulos 63′), 2 Tiaan Erasmus (16 Ben Strang 66′), 3 John-Roy Jenkinson (18 Wikus Groenewald 49′), 4 Justin Basson (19 Jordan Brown 58′), 5 Johan Momsen (capt.), 6 Vili Helu (20 Ross Deacon 58′), 7 Daemon Torres, 8 Jason Damm, 9 Rowan Gouws (21 Ryan Rees HT), 10 Kurt Coleman (22 Duncan van Schalkwyk 45′), 11 Jack Shaw, 12 Rewita Biddle, 13 Will Leonard (23 Seth Purdey 73′), 14 Austin White, 15 Martini Talapusi (16 Ben Strang 35′-44′)

TORONTO ARROWS
1 Conan O’Donnell (17 Lolani Faleiva 63′), 2 Gene Syminton (16 Jack McRogers 68′), 3 Isaac Salmon (18 Tyler Rowland 70′), 4 Mason Flesch (19 Adrian Wadden 63′), 5 Micaiah Torrance-Read, 6 Travis Larsen (20 Mike Sheppard 66′), 7 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 8 Corey Thomas, 9 Ross Braude (21 Cole Brown 70′), 10 Sam Malcolm, 11 Nic Benn (23 Fabian Goodall 22′), 12 Tautalatasi Tasi, 13 Mitch Richardson, 14 Cole Davis (22 Shane O’Leary 68′), 15 Ciaran Breen

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Scott Green (USA)
Assistants: Dave Edwards (USA) & Bryan Hall (USA)
TMO: Nick Hannon (USA)